Research suggests that an interactive plushie robot could improve anxiety and depressive symptoms in LGBTQ+ young people.

The research, which has been published in Nature Medicine and surveyed more than 150 young people with thoughts of self-harm over a 13 week period, found that participants who received Purrble alongside safety planning, a tool commonly used by mental health practitioners to help people navigate moments of distress and reduce the risk of self-harm, reported lower depression and anxiety symptoms and better emotion regulation than those who received safety planning alone.

The project which was a collaborative study between researchers at Kings College London, University of Nottingham and Swansea University specifically designed Purrble to target emotion regulation. Purrble works by simulating a quickened heartbeat and shaking, encouraging its user to calm it through petting. As the plushie is pet, it slows down and begins to purr, supporting the young person to separate themselves from challenging emotions in the moment and soothe themselves.

LGBTQ+ youth in the UK have repeatedly shown to be more likely to experience mental ill-health, with over 65% reporting a history of self-harm. Despite this heightened risk of poor mental health outcomes, the group reports experiencing additional layers to accessing treatment in traditional settings due to negative responses from clinicians and the fear of being dismissed or stigmatised. These barriers highlight a critical need for innovative interventions for LGBTQ+ youth outside traditional health and care service options.

Digital mental health interventions are being proposed as scalable solutions to address gaps in traditional support, and LGBTQ+ youth see interventions such as Purrble as acceptable. Unlike traditional emotion regulation interventions that rely on in-session, therapist-guided skill building and psychoeducation, Purrble is designed to support emotion regulation through real-world in-the-moment and intuitive interaction, acting as a transdiagnostic treatment – targeting the emotional dysregulation that sits at the centre of many mental ill-health diagnoses.

The research was part of the wider UKRI-funded Digital Youth Project, which was led by Professor Chris Hollis, Director of MindTech (NIHR HealthTech Research Centre Mental Health) and Professor Ellen Townsend from the University of Nottingham School of Psychology. Digital Youth used co-production with young people to look at mental health and the complex risks and opportunities of digital initiatives to generate new preventatives and therapeutic interventions.

Given the current (unmet) demand for face-to-face mental health support for young people, it is vital that novel, digital tools like Purrble are rigorously co-produced and evaluated. This important randomised controlled trial with Purrble highlights the potential for such tools to complement in-person approaches and improve mental health symptoms.
Professor Ellen Townsend, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham

Although the study did not find a significant effect on self-harm thoughts or behaviours, the team emphasise that Purrble is intended to complement, not replace, broader mental health care and support.

The team are now investigating why Purrble proved more effective in alleviating negative systems for cis-gender LGBTQ+ youth than transgender youth, where the effect is limited. 

Published paper 'A socially assistive robot to support mental wellbeing in LGBTQ+ young people at risk of self-harm: a randomized controlled trial'

Read the Purrble paper

Find out more about Purrble and the other Digital Youth projects on their website